Doggy Duelling [open]

[Azura]

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] Aza was not going down without a fight. She was a survivor. She wasn't going to lie down and let this dog have her pelt. "Come and get me then, you filthy canine," she hissed at it. She could rise to this. She no longer had much to live for. What did she care? Well, except Sparksetter. No. No way. I am not just living for him. Well, maybe. The dog growled and backed off a bit, sensing the new aggression in its prey, and made wary. Trapped in a corner, surrounded by red brick walls, Aza didn't have a lot of other choices. She'd spent enough time mooning about in DuskClan territory. This was her reminder of where she belonged. On the streets, living her life, taking her chances, fighting her battles. Sometimes it happened a bit too fast, was all. Regaining its courage, the dog remembered it was thrice Aza's size. It moved in. Its breath was hot and rank on Aza's face. She yowled and swiped at it. It barked and its massive jaws snapped at her. Aza drew further back into the corner, desperately avoiding it. She was trapped. She knocked another of its blows aside, then another one hit her on the shoulder. She took it hard, feeling something in her shoulder give way. She hissed in pain and tried to slash at the dog with her other paw, but the hurt shoulder gave way under her weight. Aza reared up on her hind paws, batting at it. It took almost no notice of the ragged wounds Aza's claws inflicted, snapping at her hind leg. The odds were stacked. Aza was tough but she was small, and skinny, and scrawny. Alone, she didn't stand a chance. Help, she yowled, and for the first time in very many years, she prayed with quiet desperation. She had no other hope left. She hadn't had much hope left for years, really. [/scrolly]

[Nightspirit]

Nightspirit opened her eyes, yawning. As usual, it was already the middle of the day, judging from the light breaking through the branches guarding her sleeping place. She could see Twoleg houses in the distance. It was dishonourable to eat Twoleg scraps, but it was Leaf-Bare, and she hadn't caught anything the day before. She was hungry enough to risk losing her pride.
Feeling only the slightest bit of guilt, she padded off to the Twoleg houses. Nightspirit had gone a few times last Leaf-Bare. She knew which houses were safe and which harboured dogs. The sent of canine wafted through her nose from a few houses away. It hadn't been there last year.Night made a mental not to avoid it.
But....the scent wasn't just canine. There was something else...cat! Night sniffed again. It wasn't a Clan scent, or any Rogue bands she knew of. She didn't know the scent of tribe cats, but what would they be doing here? The cat would have to be a loner, like her.
As she got closer, the house came into clearer view. The loner was fighting the dog! Or at least, trying to.... at the scraggly loner's cry for help, Nigh came quickly over. The dog had her cornered, but it didn't seem to have noticed her yet, too preoccupied with its prey. Summoning up her limited strength, Nightspirit pounced on the dog from behind and hoped for the best.

[Azura]

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] Aza panted, wild with fear. She hissed and spat, her breath coming short as she was hit by the dog's massive paw. She squealed and bit it, hard, but it didn't seem to notice. Suddenly it seemed to slacken, and slump. Aza yowled in triumph as the dog was pounced on from behind by a black cat. Smelled like a loner. A survivor. Like her. "Ha!" she cried, and whacked the dog on the nose with a paw. It turned back to her with a growl and she bit it again. Still backed up in the corner, crowded, she wasn't able to get a good hit. She hadn't the leverage for a strike. Frustrated, she managed to summon the goodwill to throw a grateful smile to the loner who had helped her. She launched herself off the wall and pushed with her shoulder, managing to shove past the dog. "Run!" she yelled, her paws already pounding the ground as she threw herself away from the scene. Panting, she glanced over her shoulder, making sure the other cat was following. If she wasn't, Aza would have to go back and rescue her. She blinked. Where had that sentimentality come from? When was the last time she'd ever thought about putting herself in danger to help any other cat? She supposed it must be the whole being in love thing... Sparksetter... She shook her head. Just run. Keep running. Survive, for sky's sake. Frowning at herself, she did what she had always done, and concentrated on nothing but her ginger-and-white legs and the black thunderpath-side ground flashing past underneath her. [/scrolly]